Restaurant Review - CRAVE in Mt Pleasant

My friend Kim and I stopped by Crave in Mt Pleasant after attending a class at the College of Charleston's music department last night. Being consistently one of our favorite places, we were looking forward to discussing the evening and catching up on trips, life, kids and all of our favorite subjects. The bar area of Crave is lovely, nice and open and with high tables scattered throughout. Ordering a glass of wine and a beer, we settled into the menu like bees to honey, busily devouring each appetizer's description. We finally chose to share a salad on the specials menu and also wanted to sample the antipasto plate.



To begin with, our server brought a basket of warm bread. We each pulled out the steaming muffins first, as they looked incredibly tasty. Taking just small bites and were delighted at the delicate sweetness of what turned out to be sweet potato muffins. The slight cinnamon flavor was accentuated with a light maple butter. Nestled next to the muffins were pieces of french bread, crusted perfectly with fluffy middles. The muffins are made in-house with just a few simple ingredients and are just one of Crave's delicious treats. While the french loaves had a nice consistency and appeared fresh, we learned that they are not hand crafted by Crave's chefs but delivered by a food service.



Our salad arrived promptly, and we forked through the delicious bib lettuce, goat cheese with bacon crumbles, and dried apple chips. One fried egg was placed on top. As an aside, I believe a fried egg on anything makes it better, but on this particular salad, it was outstanding. A champagne vinaigrette drizzled the dainty leaves without drowning them, and the natural flavors blended well. The simplicity of dried apple chips with goat cheese was a nice surprise, and we enjoyed each bite. As our server came to remove the plate, we dryly suggested they take it off the menu, because we obviously didn't like it (the plate was basically licked clean). She laughed and brought out our second dish.



Kim and I are utterly baffled by this dish. There is no other way to say it. It was terrible. What is so surprising is that Crave is typically consistent. Our food choices in the past have included lobster and shrimp risotto, scallops, and salmon. Their dinners are truly wonderful and spot-on, but this.. this.. this plate.. ?? First of all, look at the plating. They are trying out for a rustic appeal with large chuckly blocks of what is supposed to be feta cheese on a wooden block. It looks ok, I guess, and in the dim lighting it's hard to show you just how boring it really was. The artichoke salad with black olives tasted medicinal and bland. The feta cheese blocks were chalky and dry. The charcuterie was simply disgusting! We couldn't eat it. The best thing on the platter was pickled beets, and they were straight out of a can. The pickled green beans were crunchy, yes, but so lightly pickled that they just tasted sickly (maybe they needed the artichokes for help!). Little drowned grape tomatoes dotted one section, but they were so sad looking that we couldn't enjoy them either. It was one of the worst food experiences I have experienced over the past few years, and that's saying something after my trip to North Carolina!

Overall, I cannot give Crave a bad review. Multiple experiences have proven they are a decent restaurant. One suggestion though, never put the antipasto plate on your specials menu again. Take it off, forget you tried that one, and stick to what you're good at. Everything else.

Greater Charleston Restaurant Association - a Weekend of Food and Cultural Delights

The Greater Charleston Restaurant Association (GCRA) hosted three great events this past weekend. Taste: Iron Chef was held at the Culinary Institute downtown; Southern and Sweet was staged at Harborside; and the annual Taste of Charleston soiree at Boone Hall rounded out the three day schedule. Being a big fan of our local food culture, I was excited to attend as many of these as possible. We were only able to attend two, and here is the drill down from the weekend.

Taste: Iron Chef

The Iron Chef competition was an unexpected treat. As we arrived, we were directed into the TV viewing areas where heavy hors d'oeuvres were displayed. Tables filled with chocolate truffles, mousse and bite sized desserts surrounded the entry way. As we pressed further into the dining hall, we discovered burners warming meats from the smoker. Schnitzel sandwiches, a simple combination of fried pork filets and Sriracha slaw, were the first bites that melted in our mouths as we meandered through the line. Beef brisket, so tender it was falling off the forks, sat alongside a fall vegetable salad, consisting of sweet potatoes, red and green peppers and white potatoes. Along the other side, a smattering of German themed dishes lined the tables. Sausages, German potatoes, corndogs and more were a nice welcome for the upcoming Oktoberfest festivities. The students had obviously expended a large amount of time preparing for this event, and it definitely showed.




The competing chefs arrived via limousine and were escorted into the ampitheater. Waiting for their secret ingredient to be revealed, the announcers introduced them to the judges. We watched from a televised viewing area, but there were many who bought tickets to watch the competition in the ampitheater seating area. Hosts offered swag bags to lucky attendees throughout the show. Sean Brock, chef at Husk, acted as one of the hosts and held us captive with his repertoire. Unfortunately, we did find it a little hard to follow the chefs' feats, as it was quite noisy in the outer areas. I can easily understand how the ampitheater sells out so quickly!

As it were, Taste: Iron Chef is probably one of my favorite new events. I've always been a big fan of the original Japanese version, and this was an excellent and fun way to bring some friendly competition to our favorite local chefs. I can't wait to go again next year.


Southern and Sweet



We headed to Southern and Sweet at Harborside East on Saturday. Getting there a bit early, we were able to see the chefs prepare their amazing dishes of the day. Having had rain almost daily for the past month, we were a little concerned about having this outdoors. Luckily enough, we arrived to find the area covered with tents and just a light drizzle of rain. The view was spectacular of the harbor! Looking out, the Ravenel Bridge stood magnificently as a backdrop for the occasion. Music was provided by Hank Futch and Phillip Lammonds, and their fun and funky style was welcomed by all. There could not have been a better choice of entertainment for the occasion.



Delicious desserts were presented inside the main building and were crafted by the Culinary Institute's students. Bite sized carrot cakes, snickerdoodles and pecan diamonds didn't last long. The sweet treats were carefully displayed along delicate event decor arranged by Ooh! events. Tea candles lit up the room, and lovely flowers brightened up the wooden bar. Bartenders lavishly poured wine and beer, along with other non-alcoholic drinks, to the many people who flooded the event. Porters, browns and Oktoberfests with wines of all colors were available at the open bars inside and out.

Three tents representing local food fare were set up. We were lucky to sit with a nice couple of ladies who had ventured down from Spartanburg, so we compared notes with each sampling. Here is the breakdown of what we had.

- Middleton Place



Shrimp and grits were Middleton Place's dish of the day. Presented beautifully with a bread and butter pickled okra accessorizing the top, it was nearly perfect. I was at first a bit skeptical of the combination, as the chef blended tasso ham with a tomato base. I couldn't have been more wrong, as the grits simply kissed the grits while marinating in the delightful gravy. Taking bites of the okra, we were delighted to have sweetness develop on our tastebuds when we were expecting something along the lines of dill. The choice of adding pickled okra to the dish enhanced the sweetness from the tomato based gravy and enhanced the dish. Small bites of tasso ham snuggled up to the shrimp and added just the right amount of flavor.

-Graze



Graze offered catfish stew with homemade sausage and some of the best damn cornbread I've ever eaten. The stew was heavy on tomatoes, which I love, but my table mates didn't find it as delicious. There was little taste of catfish to the stew. In my opinion, that was perfect as it avoids the strong flavors that often accompany catfish. Hoppin John was served on the side along with a nice square of sweet cornbread. The Hoppin John was pretty flat but went well if added to the stew. Otherwise, it didn't really speak to us. Sorghum butter, made from sweet sorghum grass, added a lovely touch to the moist cake-like cornbread. A couple of hits at this table, but sadly we all agreed there was a miss with the Hoppin' John.

-Swig and Swine



The lines to this table were tremendous! Once we got to speak with the chef, we found out why. Swig and Swine brought out their powerhouse smoker and served beef brisket, patted with salt and pepper only, that had been smoked for 16-18 hours. Juicy pulled pork, on the smoker for 14-16 hours melted in our mouths. A dry rub of brown sugar, chili powder, salt and pepper gave the pork a sweet crust. Every bite was a little taste of Heaven, and we enjoyed every mouthful. A nice but heavy macaroni and cheese with collard greens made this a true meal. Many people enjoyed the macaroni and cheese, but I found it to be a little heavy. It was good though. The collard greens were a little too vinegary but still tasted all right. The lovely combination of meats with the generous sides were enough to make sure everyone in attendance left with a belly full of good food.

Would I go back to this event? Absolutely! Every year, we get to sample great food on the Harbor from some of the best chefs in town. You never know what you're going to get, and the entertainment is always spectacular. Having a great bar service, such as Snyder's, doesn't hurt either.